“Liking” a Facebook page or content page is no longer a “thumbs-up” with Facebook’s recent graphical changes to its iconic “like” and “share” buttons. The social media site began rolling out the newly designed buttons yesterday and according to the Facebook developer blog, it’s already seeing positive increases in the amount of likes and shares.

It may take a while for your website to update to the new designs, so while you wait, here’s some food for thought on how design changes can impact your content marketing.

Two Reasons to Update an Iconic Part of Your Content

Logos and icons are a vital part of website navigation and marketing, which is why companies invest millions of dollars and thousands of hours in making any changes to their branding. For Facebook, this was not a decision made lightly, but one it found necessary. While it didn’t disclose any reason other than “to help people share more great content across the web”, the Facebook team must have dedicated a large amount of resources to discovering what wasn’t working with the old buttons and what would be best for the new design.

If you find your iconic content isn’t performing well it’s time to do a little research. Even small businesses can conduct their own market research panel just by asking a mix of their loyal customers and newer clients about their current designs and some proposed changes.

Another reason to update any content on your website, graphical or not, is to spark interest in older items. Users who go to the same website on a regular basis for information may get bored with the current design. While doing an entire redesign isn’t always a good idea – it can cause repeat users to become lost when their regular features are moved – small changes like a new featured image or a redesigned logo are simpler ways to update the look of your page.

Text content updates can also be a great way to drive new readership. The fact is, Google still loves seeing old content be updated – it’s a sign that you still have an important topic and now you’re offering new, relevant information. You can update any content that cites statistics or topical information, even if the core topic (car accident statistics in Cleveland, etc.) remains the same.

Will Facebook’s button update help you?

The nice thing is there’s no work to be done on your end if you’re already using the Like and Share buttons on your website. However, that’s the caveat – you NEED to be using them to reap the potential benefits! Talk to your webmaster about including the social sharing buttons on your website.

No matter what industry your business is in, if your customers use Facebook you can use this as an opportunity to remind them about the ability to share your content! Write a short blog post mentioning the new changes and remind your readers that the more they share, the more great content we can circulate throughout the World Wide Web!

Sharing begins with great content and if your business isn’t generating quality, relevant blogs, articles, and newsletters you’re not helping the cause for better Internet content! We Do Web Content can help you create the right content for your website – just fill out our contact form for a free consultation and we’ll get you started. Call today – 888-521-3880.